Where were you on 9-11?

Was at work installing CAT 5 cable for a network at our corporation.  TV was on in the break room and they told me to come look at it to see if it was a hoax because I was the I.T. guy I guess.  Then watched the other one get hit.

I was in Chicago heading to the 91st floor of the Sears tower to do a phone system install.

I was listening to the news radio in my car just outside of Chicago and they were talking about a plane that hit the WTC.  They were talking about the plane that hit the empire state building back in the early 1900's due to fog and figured it was an accident like that.  Everyone just assumed it was a small plane.
After a few minutes they switched over to the national news and people were saying that it was a large plane like a 747.  That's when my heart sunk and I called my wife.  She was sleeping with the kids and I told her to turn the TV on.  She was describing the smoke coming out of the one tower and saying that it looked really bad.
Then She screamed over the phone and started crying and I asked her what was going on but she couldn't talk.  The people on the radio started to freak out as well and mentioned the second plane.

I turned around right on the interstate and raced home as fast as I could.  I didn't go to work for the rest of the week and when the sears tower opened up a few weeks later my boss wanted me to go finish the install and I told him to F off and quit.  I took a $50k a year pay cut and moved to Omaha a week later.

I'll never forget that day and it put a lot of things in perspective for me.  I was living in Chicago trying to make the big bucks and it all changed and I wanted nothing more than to be closer to my family.

Driving to work - worked at the local newspaper, which was fascinating.

I sold "special editions" of the paper the next day in the lobby because the normal front desk staff couldn't handle the volume of people coming in.

My Dad was in DC and stuck there for a week before they could charter a private bus to drive west on I-70, stopping at major cities on the way to get everyone out of there. My mom had to pick him up in Kansas City, which was the last stop.

At my house at the time, College Station, TX. Getting ready for class. Turned on the TV and saw the coverage of the first tower hitting. They were speculating an accident, didn't know the size of the plane, etc. Then live...the second one hit. It was awful.

I didn't go to my first class as I was glued to the TV. Went to my second class and the parking lots of the massive University were empty. It was a ghost town. Classes were cancelled.

Nope. I'll never forget either.

(that said, I also remember Challenger and Columbia disasters as well)

I was a Sophomore in high school, history class 3rd period (we skipped 1st period that day).  The teacher turned on the news after he heard about the 1st tower getting hit, and we as a class watched the 2nd tower get hit, and both of them collapse. 

I remember my mom telling me when I was younger how she remembered vividly the day that JFK was assassinated, how she remembers so many minute details about that day, and that there would be a day in my life that will forever be etched in my memory like it was yesterday.  I never really understood what she meant until that day. 

Looking back on it now (I can't believe it's been 12 years) having been 15 was an interesting age to experience an event such as that.  I was old enough to remember well the days before 9/11, but innocent enough to still believe that no one would attack America again.

I was at home in Vancouver when I got a phone call from my ex to turn on the TV. 

For the next I don't know how many hours I was glued to the screen going through all the emotions of denial, disbelief, anger, horror and fear.  The airports got shut down and my ex (he's a firefighter) was sent to be at the airport to assist in case anything went horribly wrong - I was nauseous waiting to hear any news.

That evening I was scheduled to work an evening shift at the bookstore where I was part-time to help pay university costs and it was so very somber and tense... it was also a ghost town.  The manager decided to close the store early as it was clear that everyone would rather be home with family if at all possible, and we only had guff from one customer who was mad that we were closing.  I wish I could have punched him without getting fired. 

I have a friend who had flown his own plane down to his house in Vegas that same weekend, and because of the airport closures and commercial airlines having priority to get flights moving again, he was "stuck" in Vegas for about a month, the poor guy. 

Just got to my office here in Texas and my wife called saying the first tower was hit.  Turned on the little 13 in TV to see the other tower had been hit as well.  I had a doctor's appointment and was in the waiting room watching live when the second tower fell.

My sister and her husband were on a plane headed to Seattle and the plane was grounded in St. Louis.  It took them three days to make it back to Austin via train because all of the rental cars were taken.

Wow, I remember that morning clearly.  I was playing in my company golf scramble.  I remember watching it develop on the TV in the clubhouse.  I remember conversations people had, the size of the TV, etc.

People were still going on about it being an accident at that time - then the second plane hit live and I said "It's terrorists".  People still thought it was a messed up airport beacon or something.

We went to play but it was numbing.  We went throw the motions to get back to see what developed.

Then it was days and days of coverage.  I feel sick just remembering it.

I would still probably lose it when I get a strong reminder.  I'm glad they don't air the commercial with the Clydesdales bowing in memorial/repsect to the NYC skyline - too emotional.

In those lines, I also remember clearly when Reagan was shot and when the shuttle exploded. 

I was at work, in my office in DC... my day got very intense.

I won't go into details, but the one thing that I remember the most was when I actually got to head home.  Throughout the day I didn't have a moment to think about what happened and what it all meant.  Me and my colleagues went from zero to a thousand miles an hour in a matter of seconds and we didn't stop for hours.  When, I finally left, the city was silent.  No traffic, no pan-handlers, no tourists, no tour buses.  Absolutely nothing. 10 or 12 hours earlier I was neck deep in chit with a 1000 things happening at once, constantly trying to communicate and get things done over the wailing of sirens and the shouting of frightened people, and now I was in total silence in a city that is always burdening with activity.  Looking down the main avenues all I saw were traffic signals sequentially changing color, with no traffic to direct.  I sat for a moment and got lost in the events that unfolded and the eeriness of the very moment I was experiencing.

I was in college in Omaha. I woke up to take a shower before class. We had a radio in the shower and I turned it on. The station wasn't playing music so I kept flipping stations. No one was playing anything so I stopped and just listened. Heard what happened. Got out of the shower and turned on the TV. Woke up my roommates and we just watched the telly, horrified. Still went to class but it was canceled.

Later that day I went for a run. There was a plane flying over the downtown area and I couldn't figure out why. Turns out it was Air Force One. Bush was on his way to Offutt AFB to bunker and strategize.

Time difference on the west coast... I was driving to work when the first plane hit. When I got to my desk, every one was talking about it. Some one brought in a small B&W TV. Reception inside the huge metal building sucked, but 5 minutes after he turned it on the second plane hit. We knew immediately it was a terrorist attack. Then we watched the towers fall, one by one. I was just numb. Nobody got anything done that day.

Some one pointed out an online BB for Rage Against the Machine, where there were LOADS of people yakking on about how we deserved it, had it coming. I wanted to break some heads. I don't think I've ever been that angry in my life. If I had heard ANYone, be it the CEO of my company, in person say such things I'd probably be in a jail cell today for assault. Anyway... Somehow we made it through the day, feeling so helpless on the other side of the country. Wanting to do SOMEthing to help. Find a way to NY to help dig out possible survivors.

I can't even look at the pictures from that day without my blood pressure rising. The images I saw that day are permanently in my brain, the people on the rooftops of the WTC, images of people jumping from the building rather than be burned alive.

We will never forget. Because we can't.

Your a better man then me... I'd of been in the cell next to biker Dave.

At work in NJ about 20 miles from lower Manhattan. We could see the smoke.  Like most people though, we watched events unfold on TV. I had a woman on my team who lived 2 blocks from the tower. She was already at work when the towers went down but couldn't go home for weeks to get basic belongings. Her apartment windows were blasted out and the interior filled with "dust." I had house guests for a couple nights until people were able to get back into the city. We also had a number of employees in the air and were struggling to account for who was where and on what flights. Many of them were traveling internationally and were stranded all over the world. One of the first changes we made at work was to require all employees put travel details on their calendars. 

There were 17 kids at our local HS that lost a parent that day. One of my friends lost a brother. For several weeks afterwards you saw funeral processions daily. It was a profoundly sad time and I still get a bit melancholy this time each year. 

I was working a stupid job as a forklift driver at a roofing supply place. I was out in the yard all day filling orders. We were near Peterson AFB and the airport. People would say stuff about the attack. Then somebody said the tower fell. I thought they obviously got it wrong. No way the tower would fall. Then the second one.... business fell off. Finally the boss said we could all go home. Nothing left to work on.

There was air traffic all day, every day. As the day went on, and all flights grounded, it got really quiet. Finally the air force wasn't flying, but every now and then a fighter would come over head. All I remember was how quiet the city was... complete silence. Like being out in the country. I got home later that day and finally saw the footage.